Robert A. Birmingham

This book gives an overview of some historical facts about Native Americans during the late 1800's to about 1935 who resided or visited a specific site in west-central Wisconsin. Skunk Hill (or Powers Bluff, as it is now known) was used by Potawatomi people after they were evicted from southeastern WI in the 1830's, tho they were later forcibly removed to reservations in Iowa or Kansas where they were forbidden to practice their culture. Some families began escaping & returned to Skunk Hill and other remote areas where they could practice their culture without interference. They eventually purchased the land, but (probably due to the economy during the Great Depression) sold or lost it by 1935.
There is a lot of repetition of information, as each chapter seems to go over the same few recorded facts from a different approach. He uses secondary sources extensively. He gives a brief overview of federal Indian Policy and how it affected various tribes, background on the Potawatomi, an overview of the Drum Dances (or Dream Dance) and how it differs from the Ghost Dance of the same time frame, the helpfulness getting listed on National Register of Historic Places in preserving the area and its traditions, and closes with data from the 1910 census for the area & the 1918 roll of Prairie Potatomi Rervation members living in Wisconsin. There is extensive bibliography and index. The extensive photos are a treasure, and inspire me to visit the WI Historical Society to view the whole collection.
I couldn't quite figure out why he named the village a "ceremonial community" rather than just a village. Yes, ceremonies occurred there. However I believe most indigenous communities performed ceremonies without being specifically labelled "ceremonial communities". He does indicate that the site had significance before the time frame of the latest inhabitance (and that residents stated spirits still live there), but does not elaborate on that. He does indicate that people from other tribes (primarily Ho-Chunk & Ojibwe) would come for the ceremonies, and refers to the Drum Dance practices of Ojibwe, drawing heavily on the book by Thomas Vennum. He mentions other ceremonial communities based on the Drum Dance i.e. McCord, which are in west/central Wisconsin, but makes no mention of sites in other areas of Wisconsin which were similarly used by the Menominee.… (meer)

The Black Hawk War is one of those early, brief Indian Wars of interest primarily to local historians that occasionally snares the attention of an author. Robert A. Birmingham was snared, "Life, Death, Archaeology At Fort Blue Mounds" is the result and we readers are the beneficiaries.

Black Hawk was Sauk warrior chief who ignited panic in Illinois and the western Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin) in 1832 when he led his band back into Illinois from which it had been expelled during the preceding year. As many other Indian leaders, he was influenced by seers and visionaries who inspired him to reclaim his tribe's traditional lands. Crossing the Mississippi at Oquawka, Illinois, the band cut across Illinois engaging in a series of battles, most prominently Stillman's Run, named for the flight of the militia, and ending with a crushing defeat to Black Hawk's band at the hands of Regular army troops in Battle of Bad Axe in Wisconsin.

The book begins with the story of Black Hawk's raid and the unrest it incited among the American settlers. I had known a little about this war but this work presents it in an easy to follow way so as to enable the reader quickly achieve an understanding of its causes and course. Author Birmingham narrates the response of the settlers who organized their militias, built their forts and defended their new settlements. He explains how the forts were designed to withstand attack that only reached the Apple River Fort at Elizabeth, Illinois. Interestingly the historical sources reported fortifications much larger than what the archaeologists found.

Blue Mounds was a lead mining community west of Madison, Wisconsin when its residents built the fort that is the object of Birmingham's research. Built on land now owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, he and his archaeologists had access to the site which they excavated over a period of several years. The items they uncovered revealed the state of the community in the crisis of the War and life in the following years during which the Fort, no longer needed for military uses, became home to miners and their families. The specimens salvaged tell of a rustic community on the edge of the frontier in which a tea set from England was important evidence of the presence of civilization.

For anyone interested in the Black Hawk War, frontier society or the lessons learned from archaeology "Life, Death, Archaeology at Fort Blue Mounds" is a short but very rewarding read.

I did receive a free copy of this book for review.… (meer)